Conventional wisdom assumes that all actors studied by economics must act rationally. Contemporary insights from behavioural economics proves otherwise. In this video, Mensa Canada member Rony Gao summarizes the evolution of behavioural economics as an academic subject, elaborates on two common patterns in irrational behaviour (i.e. loss aversion and present bias), and discusses their implications for present-day business decisions.
Save More Tomorrow™ is but one example where insights from behavioural research helped address some of society’s toughest problems. Many other similar initiatives draw on behavioural economics research to redefine the way we think of the financial market, government policy, and human resource management.
References
Behavioural Economics course by Prof. Meng Juanjuan of Peking University. (in Chinese) 北大光华管理学院 孟涓涓 老师《行为经济学》课程
Shlomo Benartzi: Saving for tomorrow, tomorrow
Save More Tomorrow™: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving